I do not know when this imbecile
condition will pass off, perhaps it is only that I am out of practice.
When a workman has left his tools behind him for a time his hand
becomes clumsy; it has, so to speak, undergone a divorce from them; he
must needs begin again little by little to establish that fraternity
due to habit and which binds the hand to the implement and the
implement to the hand." But his discouragement did not last long, for
he soon had his implement in hand again, with a stronger grip on it
than ever.
Chapter 8.
At Les Jardies.
It was in 1835 that Balzac conceived the idea of acquiring some land,
situated between Sevres and Ville-d'Avray, for the purpose of building
a house. He wished in this way to give a guarantee to his mother, evade
compulsory service in the National Guard, and become a landed
proprietor. He had explored all the suburbs of Paris before deciding
upon a hillside with a steep slope, as ill adapted to building as to
cultivation. But, having definitely made his choice, he acquired
sections from the adjacent holdings of three peasants, thus obtaining a
lot forty square rods in extent, to which he naturally hoped to add
later on.
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